In case you’ve avoided reading any online articles that had the words “pussy riot” because you thought it was spam or NSFW, let’s catch you up quickly. Pussy Riot! is a Russian punk performance collective and feminist/political activist group. In February 2012 five members staged a protest performance, or “punk prayer”, inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior church in Moscow, and three were arrested (Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevitch, known as Masha, Nadya, and Katya). The performance lasted all of 40 seconds before the women were charged with acts of “hooliganism” and religious hatred. After being taken into custody they were also denied bail. Word spread of the event around the Internet, and naturally, since we’re accustomed to and love ever-so-dearly our freedom of speech, the Internet community became outraged. Word spread from smaller blogs to artists, performers and writers who started “Free Pussy Riot!” funds and even played benefit shows (you can see Yo-Landi standing in front of some graffiti in Die Antwoord’s “DIS IZ WHY I’M HOT” video). Bigger publications picked up on the event and it soon gained national attention. Many tuned into Pussy Riot!’s trial, waiting to hear the women’s defense, and wondered how anyone could actually be charged with “hooliganism”. Pussy Riot! was in fact sentenced two-years imprisonment for their act. As the world continues to see Putin’s use of excessive power brandished unnecessarily, another effort to fund Pussy Riot!’s legal defense team has been activated via Feminist Press in form of an eBook. Through 90 pages of Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom you can read the historic words that captured the world’s attention from Pussy Riot! members, letters from prison, poems, closing courtroom statements by the defense attorneys, and the infamous punk prayer that landed them there in the first place. The eBook also features tributes from Yoko Ono, Le Tigre’s Johanna Fateman, performance artist Karen Finley and more. All proceeds from the sale of Pussy Riot! A Punk Prayer for Freedom will support their legal defense team. You can help Pussy Riot by purchasing the eBook for just $2.99. For further information and news about Pussy Riot!, visit FreePussyRiot.com.
